Protest leader Elly Pamatong at a demonstration in Manila on Monday to condemn recent island-building and alleged militarisation by China in the South China Sea. Photo: AP

The arrival of at least four vessels at Quirino or Jackson Atoll comes as US Defence Secretary Ash Carter warned China against what he called "aggressive" actions in the South China Sea, including the placement of surface-to-air missiles.

"China must not pursue militarisation in the South China Sea," Mr Carter said in a speech in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Satellite images released last month of Woody Island, the largest of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. A US official confirmed China has deployed a surface-to-air missile on Woody Island. Photo: AP

"Specific actions will have specific consequences".

The Philippine Star newspaper quoted Filipino fishermen from Mindoro Occidental province as saying that Chinese vessels chased them away from the atoll where five lagoons have been a rich source of catch.

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"These grey and white Chinese ships, around four of them, inside the lagoon, prevented us from entering our traditional fishing ground," one said.

Vietnamese expatriates at a rally held last Thursday at the Chinese consulate in Manila to protest China's island-building and deployment of surface-to-air missiles in the South China Sea Photo: Bullit Marquez

"There are many ships there," he said, without elaborating. A fishing operator said: "We can't enter the area".

The atoll is between the Philippine-occupied Lawak Island and the Chinese-occupied Panganiban (Mischief) Reef.

Filipinos and Vietnamese expatriates rally last Thursday at the Chinese consulate in Makati, east of Manila, to protest China's island-building and deployment of surface-to-air missile system in the South China Sea. Photo: AP

In 2012, Chinese ships took control of Scarborough Shoal, another traditional Filipino fishing ground and Chinese vessels remain in the area.

Tensions have escalated over the disputed region since the US navy dispatched a destroyer to sail close to a Chinese base in the disputed Paracel islands in January.

Since then China has deployed surface-to-air missiles and re-deployed fighter jets in the islands, prompting US complaints that Beijing is militarising the South China Sea, through which about 30 per cent of world trade passes each year.

The US late last year obtained final approval to expand its military presence in the Philippines and has begun making spy flights over the region in Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft based in Singapore.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea where Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam have overlapping claims.

The Turnbull government last week released a 20-year defence blueprint to increase defence spending amid rising tensions in Asia, including China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.